desirepower016 wrote:Why not buy from a local dealer? It is more safe and fast.

Not necessarily safer or faster. And surely not cheaper. I have learned to be patient and it is seldom longer then a week with the cheapest freight option from China. I just put in order number 9 with HK.

I have been twice to the local shop and got very frustrated with the lack of stock, knowledge, price and the push to sell me something which was way off what I wanted. I ordered locally a motor and ESC which was four times the cost of HK. I can see how much the freight costs are and how many grams I can add by putting cheap items in to fill it up. I start to get a good amount of spares now. I am even tempted to get a spare 9X radio to modify with sliders and other stuff.

desirepower016 wrote:Why not buy from a local dealer? It is more safe and fast.

Apart from one stupid order with a US firm, Northeast Sailplane Products ( http://www.nesail.com/ ) who have the dubious honour of being the only internet shop to ever stiff me, I love shopping online and have been doing so since 2000. So, I won't ever shop with them again and I advise you not to either. Buying online for me has otherwise been a safe and very satisfying experience. No way would I go back to being ripped off at local stores.

Although the local hobby shops are mostly staffed by friendly and helpful people, and I do like to give them some support for the service they provide local hobbyists (who often need stuff quickly) the sad fact of the matter is that I always come out feeling ripped off and angry with myself for being so stupid.

I know they have to pay high rents, salaries and sales taxes etc. But when you compare what you get for your money at a local shop to online stores like HobbyKing or traders on eBay, the price difference is just ridiculous.

I've had 17 orders with HobbyKing so far and every one has arrived in good time and in good condition at a third to a quarter (or even less) of what I would pay locally, assuming the locals even stocked it.

If it wasn't for online shopping I would not be able to afford this hobby, full stop.

I agree. I bought a servo extension lead from my local shop for $7, I got a pack of 10 from HK for $2. Even if you add $3 postage instead of buying a few things together, you still get 10 for $5 instead of 1 for $7. If it wasn't for HK prices I would have kept playing with MS Flight Sim on my PC and never bought an RC plane in the first place.

I bought my Fatshark goggles from BEVRC. They never responded to my email asking about stock levels, but the goggles turned up only 10 days after I ordered them. Free EMS delivery for orders over $200.

There is no way I could be doing this without Hobby King... I have 116 orders in less than a year (Elite Member)... If I did not buy another thing I have enough bits a pieces to keep me busy for ages...

Ordered NZ$301 worth of OSD, camera and Skywalker from bevrc.com on January 1st, 2012. Today (January 3rd, 2012) got a message from http://www.bevrc.com stating that they were under hacker attack for three days and that my paypal payment went to fraudster account.

It remains to be seen how BEVRC will handle this situation. So far they asked me to cancel the transaction via PayPal resolution center, which I did. BEVRC seems to have put my order on hold. I really hope that they will not wait for PayPal resolution to come to an end, and ship the order promptly. In this situation the buyer has virtually no fault, but can potentially be the one with greatest lost.

mkuvy wrote:Ordered NZ$301 worth of OSD, camera and Skywalker from bevrc.com on January 1st, 2012. Today (January 3rd, 2012) got a message from http://www.bevrc.com stating that they were under hacker attack for three days and that my paypal payment went to fraudster account.

BEVRC is responsive, albeit slow, to the emails about the fraudulent transaction. It appears PayPal can return the money only to my account (i.e., it cannot redirect the payment to the correct account), so BEVRC suggested to wait up to a month for PayPal to [hopefully] cancel the transaction.

I've made and paid a second copy of the order at BEVRC, and sent BEVRC a clear message that I expect them to cover any difference between what I've paid for the original order and what PayPal will return to my account. Now several weeks of waiting is ahead.